50 Tasting Notes

When I got home from work I had a sudden craving for cupcakes, so I baked some, but I overdid it with the icing (decided to go with vanilla buttercream, and made way too much) so I needed a refreshing tea to stop myself from feeling sick. I was going for mint when I remembered I had this and decided to give it a shot.

Very clean and light. Tastes sort of woody, and I’m getting a strange taste that’s almost like lemons but without the sourness – if that makes sense. Doesn’t taste of olives, which is nice. I think I might get this one in again, it’s a pleasant drink for cutting through overly sweet flavours without overwhelming them entirely (the way lemongrass and mint can.) Also, breaking up the leaves into my teapot is kind of satisfying in a weirdly tactile way.

later edit: The lemony notes come out more when resteeped.

Preparation

I’m not regretting buying it, it’s reasonably pleasant, but I don’t think I’ll be too gutted when it vanishes off the shelves. The rose taste is quite fresh and subtle, not too perfumey like some can be, but I think it needed a better quality black tea; this one’s a little flat and on the bitter side.

Haven’t tried it with milk (I tend to avoid putting milk into favoured teas) but it’s good with just a pinch of sugar.

Preparation

Soft vanilla flavours with a little bit of astringency from the lavender and the white tea. I like it, but I’m not sure if I like it enough to buy more in. I have a feeling that this is one that I’ll find myself craving every so often, but not enough to warrant it taking up cupboard space.

Preparation

I have a single bag of this tea that the nice man in Nando’s gave me (the conversation went thus: me: “Can I buy that tea by the box?” him: “no, sorry, we just do the cups.” me: “Can i buy just a bag of it now then? My friends are leaving, I want to try it but Mighty Leaf’s p&p charges are scandalous, and I’ll pay for the price of a full cup…?” ::hopeful grin:: him: ::backs slowly away from the nutter:: “here, on the house. Enjoy.” The moral of this story? Acting eccentric gets you free tea.)

The problem is I really like it, so it looks as though I’m going to be paying those p&p charges. It’s sweet and fruity with a strong but pleasant hit of vanilla, and it doesn’t have that dry-mouth sensation I keep getting with rooibos teas. Once it’s cooled a little the vanilla becomes a little less intense and the flower flavours more apparent, so quite a complex tea.

Preparation

This is delicious and I will definitely be keeping a stock of it in as much as I can. It’s the second milk oolong I’ve tried and it leaves the other (from oolongteashop.co.uk) in the dust; if that was milk oolong then this is cream oolong. Richer and heavier, more luxurious.

Leaves a little bit of dry mouth, but it’s nice for when I want a savoury, slightly malty tea without going as heavy as black teas.

I think it’s a Tea Buffs tea, so you need to be enrolled in the loyalty scheme to get your hands on it because they only have limited stock. IMO that’s worth doing anyway though, because every three months you get a voucher for (I think) 5% of what you’ve spent on tea the previous quarter, as well as being able to buy some exclusive teas. I’m pretty sure you just need to email Chrissie at NBTea to join, but I’d have to check with the evil twin because she set it up.

It’s a basic chamomile tea, nothing to make it stand out from the rest. I drank it with a Stash honey stick (now while I am frankly baffled as to why their teas are so popular, credit where credit’s due: the honey sticks are genius) and it was a nice, soothing, relaxing cup. Not nice enough for me to restock from them though, I’d rather buy a cheaper brand when I can’t taste the difference.

Preparation

At first I thought it tasted a little insipid – for fruit flavour it doesn’t have a patch on Celestial Seasonings or Ringtons – but after drinking for a little while I decided it was subtle. One for when I need something fruity but not too overbearing.

Preparation

I might be able to come up with a better tasting note if it wasn’t 2 am, but seriously, pleh. Fruit and liquorice, I didn’t even realise it was supposed to be blueberry till I went back to see what packet I opened in the dark.

Preparation

I was dubious at first because when I smelt the dry mix there was a strong smell of off milk laid over the fruity scent, but that vanishes completely when steeped.

This is nice. Extremely fruity and quite tart, but there’s a vanillary taste that stops the tart from becoming sour. Very drinkable. I haven’t tried sugar in it yet, I’ll try that next, and I think this will taste really good iced (I’ll update when I try that.)

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Bio

I’m terrible at writing these things… I’m UK based and like loose leaf tea, especially oolongs and flavoured greens. I’m really not a fan of flavoured blacks but they do find their way into the cupboard occasionally. I share studio space and a teapot with my evil twin, so there’ll be the occasional input from her, especially since the tea budget is her business (lol, that sounds so grown up.)